From July 8, 2019
Yesterday morning Fr. Tom told me that two members of the graduating class were riding in a tap-tap in Cite Soleil on the night before the graduation when a flash flood caused by heavy rain washed the tap-tap into a ditch, killing them both. The happy occasion of the graduation was suddenly tinged with a deep sadness.
From July 7, 2019
I feel as if I’m falling apart. Yesterday morning I woke up and could hardly walk. It wasn’t my swollen ankles of varicose veins. It was my knee. I began to feel some discomfort after hours of taking photographs for Fr. Tom and Governor Mike DeWine. I think in the process of running all over the auditorium, up and down stairs, I think I mildly sprained or twisted my knee. But by Saturday morning, I could not bend my knee. Any movement was very painful.
From July 6, 2019
Yesterday was a very busy, very long day. I spent over four hours in Cite Soleil with Fr. Tom and Governor Mile DeWine photographing the graduation ceremony at the Becky DeWine High School, which is one of Fr. Tom’s schools. It is named after the Governor’s daughter who was killed in an auto accident while volunteering in Haiti. I took 450 photographs.
From July 5, 2019
Yesterday’s readings in my two monthly liturgical guides (Give Us This Day and The Magnificat) both had readings for Independence Day Eucharist celebrations. But in Haiti, the normal readings for the day were used. There was very long reading from Genesis and passage from Mathew’s Gospel (9:1-8), which told the story of Jesus healing the paraplegic. The story reveals how Jesus was always conscious of the needs of others.
From July 4, 2019
Not sure how to celebrate the Fourth of July in light of the shameful politicizing of the day with tanks and military armor rolling into D.C. or in light of our immoral treatment of migrants on our southern border, including keeping children in cages and not providing them with adequate food or hygiene materials. So much for turning our swords in plowshares or welcoming the stranger.
